REASON FOR CELEBRATION: An FA Cup win and a free bet should ease the pain

Unfortunately for Wigan fans the day has finally come where they drop down into the Championship. After two years of narrowly avoiding relegation by playing some sublime football during March and April, this year it was one step too far. Roberto Martinez’s magic couldn’t do the trick and a 4-1 thumping by Arsenal sealed their fate before any final day drama.

But it’s not all bad for Wigan fans, the Warriors are top of the Super League and local furniture-maker Martin Clare is the pie-eating champion of the world. Paddy Power is also doing his bit for Wigan fans with a cheeky little free bet.

Paddy hates to see the FA Cup winners plummet down to the Championship and he is putting a virtual arm round the shoulder of the Latics by giving them all a £5/€5 free bet.

Every punter who has set Wigan up as their side on Paddy Power’s Team Pages should have the free bet in their account to spend on football before midnight on Sunday. Martinez’s side play Aston Villa at home on the last day of the season and are 11/10 to bring the curtain down on this year’s Premier League with a win.

It is the first time ever the FA Cup winners have been relegated in the same season and ends Wigan’s eight year stint in the top-flight. A draw against Spurs and a late winner to beat West Brom gave Wigan hope but it was too little too late.

Wigan’s first ever FA Cup victory will be the highlight of a disappointing season and should help ease the pain, while Paddy’s free bet will go some way to make sure your wallet doesn’t take the hit of relegation.

Check out all the odds for this weekend’s Premier League matches here, and find out everything you need to know about team pages here

Enjoy this moment Wigan fans, Ben Watson’s pin-point header to win the FA Cup.

TOT-AL FAILURE – Talismanic Totti couldn’t lift Roma to victory over Pescara

By Aidan Elder | Chief sports writer

There’s was some football played over the weekend, not that you’d have guessed it from today’s sports pages both on and offline. Chewy Suarez is the only show in town when it comes to the sports media, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that some odds-on teams failed to deliver, knocking out quite a few accums and earning them a place in today’s Hall of Shame. Hopefully you didn’t back any of these teams, but if you did here’s some abuse and a brief explanation as to why they flopped.

Roma – 1/5

Opposition: Pescara at the Stadio Olimpico (Serie A)

What went wrong?
Roma have been no great shakes this season despite some excellent ‘one man teaming’ from Francesco Totti, but against bottom of the table Pescara, they were expected to record a comfortable win in front of their rather raucous support.

The Dolphins are a huge eight points and a goal difference swing of 31 goals away from safety and wouldn’t look more destined to go down if Kate Winslet and Leo Di Caprio were sharing a passionate embrace on their bow. They’re both the lowest scorers and the leakiest team in the league, but despite those lowly stats, Roma could only manage a draw.

The minnows took the lead after 15 minutes, but thereafter Roma huffed and puffed admirably. They had an impressive 17 attempts at goal, racked up 18 corners and blew the house down with a goal from Mattias Destro after 51 minutes. They couldn’t manage to do it a second time however, leaving them with a solitary point that isn’t much help in their chase for a Europa League place. See, every cloud does have a silver lining.

Rangers – 2/7

Opposition: Peterhead at Ibrox (Scottish Division Three)

What went wrong?
Rangers booked their ticket out of the footballing black hole that is Scottish Division Three a couple of weeks back and since then I’d imagine it’s all been Irn Bru fuelled parties and pointless fist-shaking in the direction of the Scottish FA.

That’s probably not what happened, but with the league title in the bag, the biggest challenge for the Rangers players for the remainder of the season is avoiding a prank phone call which ultimately leads to you getting sacked.

Complacency wasn’t a huge issue against promotion chasing Peterhead, certainly not as much as bad finishing and an inspired performance from Graeme Smith in the minnows’ goal. Lee McCulloch put the Ibrox side on the road to victory with a goal after 12 minutes, but Rangers took a detour off that road by conceding goals in the 23rd and 56th minutes. They tried their best, but narrowly failed to get back on terms. It was frustrating, but almost certainly not as frustrating as seeing Neil Lennon smugging things up with the SPL title at Celtic Park the next day.

YOU BRU IT – Ally McCoist didn’t blame excess IRN BRU consumption for Rangers’ defeat

Doncaster – 8/15

Opposition: Notts County at Deepdale (League One)

What went wrong?
A win over a Notts County team with little to play for would have secured automatic promotion to the Championship for Doncaster, but a hatful of wasted chances leaves them with a winner takes all game at third placed Brentford next week. Well, thankfully for Rovers its winner or a draw takes all for them, which makes this defeat slightly less of a kick in the nuts.

Wastefulness was the main culprit, that and some Notts County defending that was far more enthusiastic than you’d expect for a team with not much to play for at this stage of the season. After going behind to a Joss Labadie strike, Donny rallied, but despite lots of pressure and lots of chances for the home crowd to go ‘oooouuuuuu’ at chances fizzing just wide, they couldn’t find the net. Not legally at least because they did manage a disallowed goal.

Manager, Brian Flynn remained optimistic despite the setback, glass-half-fulling:

When I took over, if someone had offered me the position of winning our last game to go up I’d have taken it without doubt.

Sadly he’s have also taken winning our second last game at home to mid-table muddlers to go up and that didn’t work out too well. Donny are now 2/5 to go up, which isn’t too bad.

Nottingham Forest – 8/11

Opposition: Barnsley at the City Ground (League One)

What went wrong?
To be honest, Nottingham Forest were very unlucky and that’s saying a lot because normally I prefer to ignore claims of ‘bad luck’ in favour of taunting teams remorselessly. Forest hadn’t won in five games heading into this one, but as Barnsley are right in the middle of a relegation scrap and considered worse than both Blackburn and Wolves, that run was expected to come to an end.

Billy Davies’ team did their best and he wasn’t in the mood to bust their balls afterwards:

I couldn’t ask more from the players. You have all seen the post hit, the bar hit, all the chances we created, all the crosses and there’s no doubt we deserved three points. Lady luck was against us

The stats back up his assessment, particularly the one that says they hit the woodwork three times and generally bossed the game in terms of possession (62%), chances created (14) and corners (15). Despite going six games without a win, Forest aren’t yet out of the running for the play-offs, but they’ll need to show more cutting edge and ability to tell Lady Luck to shove it for the last two games of the regular season.

Leeds United have decided that recently axed Reading manager, Brian McDermott is the right man to lift them out of the doldrums. After Neil Warnock decided the task of returning them to the top flight was beyond him, the Elland Road club have turned to McDermott who transformed the Royals from Championship relegation candidates to Premier League relegation candidates over the course of his slightly more than three years at the helm.

He’s been handed a three year deal with promotion the aim. It’s a good opportunity for the 52 year old, who only a couple of weeks ago looked like the most depressed man to have ever sat of the Goals On Sunday couch. He’s a talented manager who looks remarkably like Dr. Bunsen Honeydrew, but looking like one of the muppets has never been a barrier to success. Just look at the similarity between Paul Scholes and Beeker.

Leeds are on a run of seven games without and win and sliding ominously towards the relegation scrap. The club have said that the new manager will take charge of Saturday’s crucial game against Yorkshire brethren Sheffield Wednesday although it’s doubtful what influence he can have on such short notice.

The bigger challenge is steering United clear of the drop zone in the four games they have after that and making sure that their odds of 16/1 to get relegated to League One don’t get anymore tempting in the near future

LIFE IN LEAGUE ONE: They’ll be at The Matchroom Stadium playing Orient next season. Pic:Getty

By Andrew Robinson | Wolverhampton Wanderers

When Peter Odemwingie smashed in West Brom’s fifth at Molineux back in February last year, many Wolves fans could be forgiven for thinking things couldn’t get any worse. How wrong they were.

That defeat saw the Midlands club slip into the Premier League’s relegation zone and the misery has flowed from there. A managerial merry-go-round, a club captain turning up drunk to training, relegation and a crippling set of results and Wolves find themselves back in the drop zone once again but a league below.

And it doesn’t look to be getting better any time soon and owner Steve Morgan has even threatened/offered to leave the sinking ship.

So look away Wolves fans as here are five reasons why you’ll be playing Crewe on a wet Tuesday night next season.

1. Managerial changes

Not many managers last very long after taking a 5-1 thumping at home to a club’s biggest rivals and West Brom’s triumph last season was the final straw for Mick McCarthy.

Since Big Mick’s departure, the managerial hot-seat at Molineux has been passed around like a rubbish Christmas gift with Terry Connor, Stale Solbakken and now Dean Saunders all having a go at the role.

The nagging feeling for the Wolves faithful is that had Steve Bruce been given the job things could’ve been different and while Connor is a very likeable chap, he was clearly not up to the job.

Stale Solbakken arrived from Norway with a decent pedigree but simply could not stop the rot carrying over to the Championship season, which leads to current boss Saunders.

While he’s only been only in management since 2008, he hasn’t really pulled up trees at Wrexham and Doncaster, not to mention the fact he’s only collected four points in his opening eight games.

2. Trouble at the top

The vitriol from the fans is now firmly at the door of chief executive Jez Moxey and owner Steve Morgan and serious questions are beginning to circulate.

The farce around the managerial position is one thing, but the baffling decision to build a brand new stand, that they still don’t regularly fill, while the club’s Premiership status was still in the balance has been the ire of loyal supporters.

Moxey spent the summer transfer window squeezing every single penny out of Sunderland and West Ham for the sales of prize assets Steven Fletcher and Matt Jarvis respectively.

However, from the recouped fees of around £25 million, just over £6 million was spent on bolstering the squad for the upcoming Championship season.

3. Tough fixtures

The Championship can be unforgiving mistress, just ask Sheffield United, Coventry City and Bradford City, and Wolves go into the end of season run-in in horrendous form.

They haven’t managed to pick up a win since December 21^st, when they overcame Blackpool at Bloomfield Road. They haven’t managed a success in front of their home fans since the 1-0 win over Birmingham on December 8^th.

Wolves need to shape up soon as the coming fixtures don’t bring much joy. Friday sees the visit of Watford, that’s the Watford that have scored six goals in their last two games on the road.

They then have back-to-back away games at Millwall and Nottingham Forest, the latter being rejuvenated by the return of Billy Davies.

Fans will need to look at the crucial games at home to Bristol City, Huddersfield and Burnley for any type of joy, but with things getting nervy they can’t hold out too much hope.

4. Lack of goals

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake’s howler late on against Cardiff summed up Wolves’ season and the side have been struggling for goals.

He has only put the ball in the back of the net 11 times this campaign and hasn’t really been helped out by his teammates.

Despite early promise, new signing Bakary Sako has only managed a paltry nine goals with Kevin Doyle’s pitiful total only standing at five. What they’d give to have Steven Fletcher back in the side.

5. Leaky defence

Roger Johnson was once touted as being an England international and now he’s only remembered for turning up training in the midst of a relegation battle worse for wear.

He has been at the heart of a Wolves defence that has shipped 49 goals in the league, been knocked out of the FA Cup by non-league Luton and only kept seven clean sheets all season.

Any team is bound to struggle when they’ve mastered the art of not being able to score goals and conceding regularly at the other end.

Rest assured this is the only thing Wolves have managed to achieve this season.

You can have a flutter on Wolves to bite the bullet and drop into England’s third division at 11/8 with Paddy Power.

• Betting: Championship relegation

Billy Davies is the favourite to take over at Nottingham Forest. He’s probably happier than he looks…

By Josh Powell | Sports Writer

Nottingham Forest are looking for their sixth manager in 18 months after Alex McLeish left the club today by mutual consent. The Scot lasted just 40 days as Forest’s gaffer and recorded a pretty dismal record of one win in seven games. Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Birmingham leaves Forest 10th in the Championship, six points off the play-off places.

So who will be brave enough to step up and take the job at The City Ground? Steve McClaren, Rob Kelly, Steve Cotterill and Sean O’Driscoll all had a go in the hot-seat before McLeish took the job in December last year, but none of them were able to last more than a season in charge. The Kuwaiti owners of Forest aren’t afraid to give the gaffer the chop and are now searching for their fourth manager since they took over in July 2012.

Billy Davies guided the club to two successive play-off places in 2009 and 2010 but was given the boot after failing to get Forest to the top flight. Punters think he might be after a second bite of the cherry and he is 1/6 from 16/1 to be the next Forest manager after touching 5/6 yesterday afternoon.

A lot of people were shocked when Nigel Adkins got the boot from Southampton and he is 10/1 from 4/1 to come out of unemployment with Forest. The 47-year-old got Scunthorpe promoted from League One twice before guiding Saints to a double-promotion in to the top flight. If there’s one man who knows how to win the play-offs this is your man.

Elsewhere in the market Roy Keane is now 25/1 to take over at the club he started his English career at and under-pressure Swindon manager Paolo Di Canio has been backed from 14/1 to 9/1. Former Premier League gaffers Mark Hughes and Roberto Di Matteo are both 33/1 to take the reins at Forest.

It has been 33 years since Brian Clough lifted the European Cup with Forest for the second season in a row and his son Nigel Clough can be backed at 40/1 from 22/1 to take the job.

Next Nottingham Forest manager betting

Billy Davies - 9/4 2/5 1/6
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink – 25/1 11/4 9/2
Paolo Di Canio - 5/2 6/1 9/1
Nigel Adkins – 4/1 9/1 10/1
Roy Keane – 9/1 25/1
Stuart Pearce – 16/1 33/1
Roberto Di Matteo – 18/1 33/1
Mark Hughes - 18/1 33/1
Nigel Clough – 22/1 40/1

• Full Nottingham Forest manager betting
  

BECK IN THE GROOVE: Goldenballs is expected to join PSG (pic: Inpho)

It’s Transfer Deadline Day and we couldn’t be more excited if Mila Kunis just revealed she has a thing for sarky sports journalists who work for Irish betting companies based in Dublin.

We’re in for a few hours of thrills, excitement and speculation. Or failing that, a few hours of the Sky Sports News presenters trying desperately hard to convince us they give a crap where Luciano Becchio ends up.

We’ll be here throughout the day to keep you up to date on all the latest news, speculation and complete lies on Twitter that we always fall for. Exciting isn’t it?

Main headlines

• DAVID BECKHAM JOINS PSG
• DANNY GRAHAM JOINS SUNDERLAND FOR £5 MILLION
• SAMBA COMPLETES £12.5 MILLION MOVE TO QPR
• JACK BUTLAND SIGNS FOR STOKE BUT RETURNS ON LOAN TO BIRMINGHAM
• PETER ODEMWENGIE IS TURNED AWAY FROM LOFTUS AS DEAL TO JOIN QPR FALLS THROUGH
• PAUL SCHARNER REJOINS WIGAN ON LOAN UNTIL THE SUMMER
• JERMAINE JENAS SIGNS FOR QPR ON 18 MONTH DEAL
• CELTIC SUCCESSFULLY REBUFF NORWICH’S MANY APPROACHES FOR GARY HOOPER
• ARSENAL SIGN NACHO MONREAL FROM MALAGA FOR £8.5 MILLION

CLICK HERE FOR ALL OUR LATEST TRANSFER DEADLINE DAY BETTING

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23.13: There seems little point in hanging around waiting for late deals so let’s draw a line under the blogging here. To wrap up, the big news of the day was the David Beckham brand moving to PSG, Chris Samba moving to Blackburn and then…eh…I’m going with Peter Odemwengie making a tit out of himself. Other than that it was minor moves and lots of filler from the crew at Sky Sports News. Jim White battled on bravely but not even his awesomeness could shine an exciting light on a dull day of transfers. Thank you and good night.

23.00: The window is now closed. Thank you Peter Odemwengie for bringing some entertainment to our nights.

22.58: Have today’s dealings, or lack thereof, left you feeling a little like this?

22.54: Rumours are circulating that Alex McLeish has walked away from his job at the City Ground. The collapse of the George Boyd transfer from Peterborough over issues with his eye-sight may have irked Big Ec.

22.49: We have an interview with Harry Redknapp that’s not being conducted through a car window!! He’s trying to explain what happened with the Peter Odemwengie deal without making himself sound like a dodgy car dealer. Which simply isn’t possible.

22.46: Despite earlier spurious rumours linking him to Liverpool, Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg looks like he’s going to end up at Craven Cottage. Martin Jol is looking chuffed with his work during this window.

22.42: There really doesn’t look as though we’re going to get a big signing in the next 20 minutes. Come on City!! Get that cheque book out and do something mental!!

22.25: Everton have done a deal for Barnsley’s 18-year old defender John Stones. Signing him to a five-year contract.

22.23: West Ham director David Gold is trying to drum up some interest in midfielder Diame by insisting that no one has made a bid for the player. At least not one that meets their valuation.

22.12: Former Liverpool full-back Stephen Warnock has definitely signed for Leeds United on a three-year deal. It’s not exactly breaking news I know but it’s worth a mention.

22.10: The Odemwengie mess could yet see him moving to QPR. They still have 50 minutes to sort that one. Jermaine Jenas’ deal has been signed and Spurs’ 21-year old midfielder Andros Townsend has joined the club on-loan. Oh Harry.

22.02: The only mildly interesting transfer still on the cards is Kevin Doyle to Celtic. As an Ireland fan it’d be good to see him get some games and score 40 goals a season. He was on the bench for Wolves’ 2-1 loss away to Leicester tonight so they’ll need to work fast.

21.59: I forgot to mention Kevin Philips’ move to Crystal Palace from Blackpool. Well I say forgot, more nodded off.

21.54: Aston Villa fans have signed Tottenham’s Simon Dawkins on loan. His middle names are apparently Jonathan Dreamsmasher. This may be a wikipedia hoax but I really hope it’s true. Unfortunately all dreams at Villa Park have been well smashed by now.

21.52: Here’s a funny picture of Neil Warnock doing some last minute transfer research I nicked off Twitter.

21.41: Bubbles have been burst my friends. It seems the Leandro Damaio to Spurs deal is off after the Internacional director had this to say.

Damaio won’t leave, the offer was below what we wanted.

To add more disappointment to the boredom Gary Hooper won’t be joining Norwich. Celtic manager Neil Lennon confirmed he is not for sale.

Contrary to reports there have been no new bids for Gary. Even if there are, they will be rejected.

21.30: Brek Shea is somehwat muted as he struggles to expresse his excitement of moving to Stoke through the window of his car. The former Dallas FC winger now has to leave the country so he can apply for a work permit. Rounds of “U-S-A” from the Stoke fans were sure to make him feel at home.

21.28: I do hate to agree with Simon Jordan but he’s right, David Beckham signing for PSG isn’t technically a transfer because he’s unnatached. Pedantry straight from the Sky Sports News studios.

21.25: Does Alou Diarra’s loan move to Rennes mean West Ham are less likely to sell Diame? Spurs are the team most interested in the imposing midfielder.

21.22: Graham Hunter confirms Liverpool have missed out on Barcelona’s talented 21-year old winger Isaac Cuenca who has instead gone on loan to Ajax.

21.07: They’re STILL banging on about Chris Samba. Yes he’s a good player, a little over-priced and over-paid perhaps, but that deal was done yesterday. We are hearing that Peter Odemwengie has left Loftus Road, no doubt starting to see the flaws in his plan as he drives back to West Brom.

20.55: Barely known Everton striker Magaye Gueye may be off on loan to France. Bolton are also close to signing Partizan Belgrade midfielder Medo Kamar.

20.52: Leandro Damaio is at White Hart Lanes to discuss a £17m move. This will get a Big Money Move graphic if it goes through. Someone has also put a bid in for Diame. We don’t know who though, so it’s not quite a news story yet.

20.29:So little has been going on that I’ve been forced to come up with a limerick.

There was a player called Odemwengie
Who thought the rules were bendy
He rocked up to Loftus
To force through the offers
But the Baggies were being unfriendly

20.20: The official West Brom response to Peter Odemwengie’s arrival at Loftus Road.

Baggies confirm no agreement has been reached with QPR over striker

ALBION have moved to clarify developments regarding Peter Odemwingie after the striker was filmed a short while ago arriving at Loftus Road.

The club can confirm they have held further discussions with QPR today but those talks have so far proven fruitless and no agreement has been reached.

Albion would also like to make clear that Peter has not been given permission to speak to QPR about a potential move.

20.14: The Jack Butland deal has been signed we hear. Stoke City fans are delighted as you can see below.

20.07: Peter Odemwengie has gone rogue!!! So desperate is he to get involved in a fruitless relegation battle that the striker has driven to London with his manager to force a deal through.

19.59: As we prepare for the awesomeness that is Jim White we appear to only have a couple of realsitic big transfers in the offing. Leandro Damaio (highlights below) to Spurs is apparently still on and we wait to see if Everton can pull of a coup and land Negredo.

19.54: In the context of what has, or hasn’t, happened today Nacho Monreal’s reported £8.5m move to Arsenal is a big money move. It’s certainly an area Arsene Wenger needs to strengthen and he appears to have secured the talented Spanish international defender from cash strapped Malaga.

19.51: It appears the QPR caretaker is not a Jermain Jenas fan as Sky Sports News show the former England midfielder standing outside a locked Loftus Road.

19.46: Jim White has been released from his cryogenics chamber. It’s almost Jim Time people.

19.40: Fulham have completed the loan signing of Bulgarian defender Stanislav Manolev from PSV.

19.38: I’m not so convinced about these Liverpool goalkeeper rumours. Particularly the Reina one. How many truly handsome bald men are there in football? Seems foolish to let him go.

BREAKING NEWS: Liverpool have accepted a bid for Jose Reina from Arsenal. (Daily Mail) #Transfers

— Transfer Central (@CentralTransfer) January 31, 2013

19.25: BREAKING NEWS!!! Heurlho Gomes has been at Spurs all this time!! Who knew? The Brazilian is off to flap at crosses for Hoffenheim, where he’s on loan until the end of the season.

19.24: Mike Ashley can really turn a neutral supporter against Newcastle. Here he is arriving at the Newcastle training ground today.

19.21: WILD SPECULATION!!! Peter Lawwell, Celtic’s chief-executive, has been spotted returning to the offices at Celtic Park. This can only mean one thing. The Gary Hooper transfer saga continues. Actually we’re told it could also mean Celtic are looking to sign a player. Goalkeeper and left-sided player has been as accurate as Sky have managed so far. In depth stuff. Of course Lawwell could have forgotten his mobile.

RT @tonyfernandes Junior Hoilett not going anywhere. He’s is a key player for the future. Needs a good run in the team #QPR

— Goal UK (@GoalUK) January 31, 2013

19.03: PETER CROUCH NEWS!!!! Oh what a f***ing surprise, the news is that nothing is happening. Crouch is staying at Stoke after talks with QPR broke down and in case you were interested, I’m guessing you’re not, Kenwyn Jones isn’t being transferred either.

18.59: Dutch stopper Stekelenburg had been linked to Fulham but the rumour mill claims he’s off to Liverpool. With Doni leaving and Brad Jones not very good, the Roma player is likely to be Reina’s back-up

BREAKING: Liverpool have had a loan approach for Roma’s Maarten Stekelenburg, with an option to buy for £7m accepted. #Transfers

— Transfer Central (@CentralTransfer) January 31, 2013

18.56: After a quick tea break which involved some unsuccessful flirting in the canteen, it’s back to the transfer grind. There’s news on Peter Crouch coming up…my breath is duly held.

18.41: Peter Odemwengie may not be off to QPR after all. Jermaine Jenas is though. Some good and bad news there. In that order.

18.38: DJ Campbell  appears be off to initially thrill but ultimately disappoint Blackburn Rovers fans. Something they’ve become used to.

18.34: Nacho Monreal’s move to Arsenal is looking closer and closer. Graham Hunter knows something he’s not allowed say.

Fulham are considering a late move for Lyon striker Bafetimbi Gomis. #Transfers

— Transfer Rumours (@TransferAlerts) January 31, 2013

18.22: Norwich City are doing their best to make something happen with Gary Hooper. The Canaries continue to make bids and get knocked back. Chris Hughton is also reportedly after Curtis Davis of Birmingham City. City want £4m but may do a deal with Leon Barnett going the other way. 

18.20: Breaking NEWS!!! A rumour Sky Sports made up earlier in the day was almost definitely made up. Leandro is not going White Hart Lane. So he probably will then.

18.17: Alvaro Negredo’s moving to Everton may still be a possibility according to Mr Hunter. Genuinely interesting this one. Oh transfer Gods what must we do to rouse you? I’m not above dancing naked outside.

18.12: RUMOUR – This looks to be a genuinely possible one with Arsenal reported to be close to signing Malaga full-back Nacho Monreal. He gets the thumbs up from Graham Hunter.

18.10: Jonathan Forte leaves Southampton to rejoin Sheffield United on-loan. Yup, that’s where we’re at right now.

18.07: Here’s a picture of David Beckham at his press conference. His attempts to speak English went down well.

18.03: Simon Jordan has joined the fray in the Sky Sports News studios. Here he is pre-make up.

17.58: Poor Dave Craig is being forced to stand outside in the dark and the cold. In Sunderland. He didn’t even have any news. Louis Saha has been released by Sunderland. Danny Graham has still signed. We don’t expect this to change before the window closes. Winger Elmohamady has rejoined Hull on loan.  Pete Colley could also do with a warm coffee but he opened up his particular take on some stories we already know with a terrible Cilla Black impression so screw him.

5.49pm: This is what the lack of news has done to Transfer Koala. Cute but unprofessional.

5.37pm: Joshua has left the building. Metaphorically. He’s still at his desk but I’m (Rob) taking over for the next six hours of David Beckham, Mario Balotelli and Jim White doing his darndest to make no news sound like news.

5.31pm: Newcastle have signed teenager Kevin Mbabu on a three-and-a-half deal from Servette. The most exciting and notable element of this deal is that the lad is Swiss and not French. Interesting.

5.24pm: Jermaine Jenas has arrived at QPR ahead of a possible move from Tottenham. Ray Wilkins is on Sky Sports and says it is a great move because Jenas has ‘a lot of legs’. More wonderful insight.

5.15pm: Not long now until Mr Deadline Day Jim White takes to our screens and that means that the clock is ticking closer to the 11.00pm cut-off when the window will slam shut. The original Jim White bingo game should hopefully inject some excitement into this transfer window…

5.10pm: Who needs a striker? Louis Saha has been released by Sunderland and is now available for nowt! Four goals in his last 38 league games might not exactly be prolific but at least he’s free.

5.08pm: News coming through that David Beckham is donating his PSG wages to a children’s charity in Paris. What a man.

4.56pm: Breaking news! Jim White is on the Sky Sports roof and Wembley have lit up the arch on this ‘special day’. According to Mr Deadline Day himself ‘so much is happening, what a day it has been’. Jim please stop lying to me, it’s been crap.

4.52pm: Transfer deadline day might not be living up to expectations but at least we can still be endlessly amused by Nicklas Bendtner’s attempt at looking like some kind of mafia member-come-fashion designer.

4.45pm: David Beckham has spent approximately 79 per cent of this interview looking confused and hoping that smiling awkwardly helps him with the language barrier. Luckily an interpretor has stepped up and Goldenballs is rolling out cliches about being ‘excited and honoured’ to play for PSG.

4.39pm: Under six-and-a-half hours left of deadline day and we’re still waiting for one of the big boys to make a move. All quiet from the Manchester clubs, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool so far. Plenty of time for that to change though.

In other news Beckham has rocked up to his press conference 40 minutes late. I’m not so sure if that falls under the category of ‘fashionably late’ or whether it is just poor time-keeping on Becks’ part.

4.33pm: For most football fans today is Transfer Deadline Day, for Arsenal fans it is just Thursday.

4.24pm: No update yet as to why David Beckham’s presser has been delayed. Reports are that the medical all went smoothly and we’re just waiting for the man himself. Maybe he’s trying to get a clause into his deal about the Spice Girls performing in Paris next year.

4.07pm: Despite the fact that nothing has happened for some considerable time Steven Pienaar still thinks things are ‘crazy’. I suspect his perception of crazy is very very different to Mario Balotelli’s perception of crazy.

Deadline day is crazy hope we get some players in—
Steven Pienaar (@therealstevenpi) January 31, 2013

3.54pm: Harry Redknapp is still delighted with Christopher Samba. The QPR gaffer has been collared by Sky Sports again, this time not in his motor, and the wheeler dealer is grinning from ear to ear about the purchase of the big centre-back. He also mentions that the Peter Crouch deal is pretty much dead. Of course this is Harry Redknapp talking so there’s every chance the Crouchie deal will still go through.

3.35pm: We’re just 25 minutes away from David Beckham’s press conference with PSG. What squad number will he take with 7 and 23 already taken? Will Victoria’s designer label headline the Paris fashion week? When we he develop a hilarious French accent? These are the big questions we need to know!

3.28pm: This is torture. Nothing is happening on Sky Sports and because Twitter is still down I can’t even bring you a wild rumour from an unverified source!

3.25pm: Mike Ashley has shot off in his helicopter and according to Sky Sports that is Newcastle’s work done. No more players will be heading to St James’ and Alan Pardew won’t be getting any more resources as he tries to stop the rot at Newcastle.

3.22pm: All quite in the transfer window at the moment. The most exciting thing that appears to have happened is that Jim White has crashed the whole of Twitter.

3.05pm: Reports are that the Jack Butland deal is worth just under £5 million or less than 1/10th of Fernando Torres. In my book that’s some good business by Tony Pulis.

3.03pm: It’s been a good day for Jack Butland. He’s been named in the England squad for the upcoming friendly against Brazil and now he’s signed for Stoke. According to Sky Sports Butland will be loaned back to Birmingham for the rest of the season which would indicate any move for Asmir Begovic will not happen until the end of the season.

3.00pm: One man who is still dominating all the headlines is Mario Balotelli. The Italian striker will don the number 45 shirt for new club AC Milan after leaving Manchester City for £19 million. We will miss you Mario, thanks for the memories.

2.51pm: Jim White is at the Sky Sports studio and we’ve got an exclusive picture of his desk ahead of his stint on deadline day…

2.32pm: Since Harry Redknapp joined QPR it seems that everyone has had a clause put into their contract saying all interviews must be conducted from car windows. Adel Taraabt is the latest man to get in on the act and he is basically chuffed that Christopher Samba has joined the R’s. He’s also really confident that Harry’s work in the transfer market will keep QPR up, if you agree you can back them at 6/5 to avoid relegation.

2.24pm: Great news for Tottenham Hotspur fans – the Sky Sports News fella, I didn’t catch his name, says not to rule out any movement at White Hart Lane! What does that mean? Well it gives us license to widely speculate and make up rumours based on little or no factual grounds. Work away folks, I look forward to reading some of your best efforts.

2.16pm: Norwich’s fourth bid for Celtic’s Gary Hooper has been rejected. Maybe Chris Hughton should take some advice from 1930′s American comedian WC Fields.

‘It at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There’s no point being a damn fool about it’.

2.08pm: The ‘shock move’ graphic is completely ironic in this case. Danny Graham has ended the ridiculous saga that involved Middlesborough and Sunderland and the former Swansea man is now a Black Cat. It’s a three-and-a-half year deal worth £5 million and should ease the pressure on Steven Fletcher’s back for the rest of the season.

2.04pm: ‘In, out, in, out and shake it all about. We do the Odemwingie and we turn around’. That’s the tune we presume the accountants at West Brom are humming right now because according to Chris Lepkowski from the Birmingham Mail QPR have come back in for the want-away striker.

#QPR have returned for further talks over Odemwingie. Looks like they're trying one final time. Story to follow #wba—
Chris Lepkowski (@chrislepkowski) January 31, 2013

1.57pm: Oh Sky Sports News you little tease. They tell us they have news about ‘Danny Graham moving to a club in the North East’ coming up right after the break. The suspense would probably be too much to bear if we didn’t already have a fairly good idea he’s joined Sunderland or, even better, if it was someone more exciting than Danny Graham.

1.52pm: Rumours are circulating round the office that Mr Deadline Day Jim White will be on our screens at 7.00pm. What will his first cliche be though? ‘You’ll hear it here first’ looks like a nice shout at 5/1. You can find all the odds and more right here.

1.42pm: There’s not a lot happening, nothing in fact. To the point where Sky Sports News are showing shots of a load of people sat behind computers and describing all the ‘hard work’ they’re doing in the run-up to 11.00pm. By ‘hard work’ I can only presume that they all swiftly minimised Facebook and opened up a technically looking Excel document.

1.36pm: It’s a done deal! Kieron Dyer has joined Middlesbrough on a short-term move. Here’s the reaction of the medical staff at the Riverside.

1.32pm: Woohoo! Harry is doing another interview from his car and his phone is ringing! There’s no real news, the long and short of it is that he’s chuffed about signing the man-mountain Chris Samba.

1.27pm: Is the Chelsea barber set for more disappointment. After Fernando Torres and David Luiz had their mops chopped he must have been praying hard that Roman Abramovich would dip into his back pocket and pay for Marouane Fellaini to come to Stamford Bridge. According to Sky Sports that deal is almost definitely probably off. Still a good chance it could happen then.

1.19pm: For any forgetful Sunderland fans this is what loyal Newcastle fan Danny Graham said when asked who he would support if Newcastle United didn’t exist, while he was playing for Watford. Charming.

‘Put it this way I would stay as far away from Sunderland as I could. It would probably have to be Gateshead’.

1.15pm: According to Ben Smith from the BBC, Danny Graham to Sunderland is a done deal. He is obviously aware that the BBC can sometimes be as reliable as your nan’s 1983 Renault Clio, especially on deadline day, so he’s helpfully provided a picture for us.

It would appear Danny Graham's move to Sunderland is done. http://t.co/SjYLaZEk—
Ben Smith (@BenSmithBBC) January 31, 2013

1.09pm: Martin Jol has decided to reignite an old flame this afternoon. Luckily for his lovely wife Nicole this old flame is not some young attractive woman who Martin once courted, but instead Urby Emanuelson who played for Jol at Ajax and has now signed for Fulham from AC Milan on loan.

12.53pm: In a controversial move, Sky Sports News have ushered the eye candy, Iain Dowie out of the studio and enlisted the help of German soccer anorak, Kate Abdo.

12.44pm: Liverpool’s only move so far today is letting Dani Pacheco go out on loan to Deportivo Huesca. there’s also whispers of Doni not being around Anfield for much longer.

12.39pm: Alvaro Negredo to Everton was one of the shock potential moves on Transfer Deadline Days, but Guillem Balague seems to have burst that particular bubble.

Everton is interested in Negredo but Sevilla want to sell for 20m euros. At that price he is not going to Everton—
Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) January 31, 2013

Sadly, his bubble-bursting is based on logic – namely the logic that Everton have no money. Unless the were to sell a certain brilliantly hair-styled superstar …

Balague makes it a quickfire double bubble-bursting whammy by also telling us David Villa won’t be leaving Barcelona:

David Villa is not leaving Barcelona in this transfer window Barcelona keep telling me—
Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) January 31, 2013

12.21pm: There’s been speculation that Andrei Arshavin will be leaving Arsenal this January. Zenit St. Petersburg are the 2/1 favourites to be his next destination, but after seeing these frankly mental photos, my money’s on him joining the Backstreet Boys.

12.15pm: Becchio gone to Norwich, former flavour of the month, Steve Morison goes to Leeds as part of the deal – Matt Barlow sums it up:

Have Norwich City singed Becchio with their Leeds United loyalty card points?—
Matt Barlow (@Matt_Barlow_DM) January 31, 2013

12.12pm: It’s confirmed Stoke have made a bid for Jack Butland. Is Begovic really going to get to enjoy his popcorn this evening?

12.10pm: Ian Poulter has just tweeted this. Either it’s him in his first Arsenal kit or the Gunners have signed Dido. She’d be an improvement on Andre Santos.

12.03pm: Andros Townsend to QPR is off. It seems to be news to everyone including Andros Townsend who turned up at the club for a medical.

12.01pm: Actual LOL, not just typing it and laughing silently to myself.

It's all business down at Loftus Road. Redknapp's Accounting & Legal Team have just been spotted arriving at the ground http://t.co/UQzMbU1c—
Paddy Power (@paddypower) January 31, 2013

12pm: Wow! Only 11 hours to go. Quick, tell us what Danny Graham is up to.

11.58am: I was basking so much in the radiance of Yorke’s smile that I completely missed him saying this:

Yorkie on Becks: "He loves the game. It's been his life throughout his.. ah… lifetime." #transferdeadlineday—
dangerhere.com (@dangerhere) January 31, 2013

11.52am: How happy is Dwight Yorke?! He smiles all the time. He always looks like he’s being fellated just out of sight of the camera.

11.48am: Asmir Begovic seemed pretty certain he was going to spend his evening eating popcorn and watching Sky Sports News, but he might need a rethink if we blindly go along with made-up rumours. He’s now being linked as the target of a late bid from Chelsea. That’s Chelsea who already have Petr Cech and Thibaut Courtois on their books.

11.41am: Iain Dowie is the pundit in the Sky Sports News studio now. He’s aging well even if his pronuncation of ‘Ligue Un’ sounds somewhere in between a sneeze and an orgasm.

11.38am: Hoffenheim-bound Heurelho Gomes just tweeted this (before dropping the phone we’re guessing)

On my way to Germany for a medical !!!!—
HEURELHO GOMES (@GOMESNUMBER1) January 31, 2013

11.33am: Wigan have a £3 million bid for John Stones accepted by Barnsley.

11.31am: Mega rich golfer and voice of the ordinary Arsenal fans, Ian Poulter questions the lack of activity at the Emirates Stadium this Transfer Deadline Day:

Do we think Wenger has found bolt cutters to the Arsenal's cheque book today. Or has it been buried under another pile of steel.—
Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) January 31, 2013

11.26am: The guy at Stoke is mentioning that ‘Tony Pulis has been here since 7.30am’ at every available opportunity. What’s he hoping that will happen? Pulis gets head-hunted to be a milkman?

11.21am: ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try again. And then try again. And then up your bid slightly and try one more time’.

That seems to be the motto at Carrow Road as Norwich have reportedly made a fourth bid to get their hands on Celtic’s Gary Hooper.

11.19am: Luciano Becchio to Norwich is done. The world reverts back to its traditional axis.

11.12am: Swansea have accepted a £5 million bid from Sunderland for Danny Graham and this story is still in no way tedious.

11.06am: This ‘David Beckham to PSG’ yarn may not be the total crap I’d pegged it for. The BBC are reporting he’s on the way to the French capital to finalise a deal. But then again, they’ve also rigged a Blue Peter phone-in, so maybe we can’t place too much trust in them.

He’s available on a free, but he’ll cost a pretty penny in wages. On the plus side, Posh won’t eat much when she enjoys the corporate hospitality at the Parc des Princes.

11.02am: Napoli striker, Edinson Cavani has been linked with moves to Manchester City and Chelsea in the past and with an asking price of £54 million, you can see why. He’s told potential clubs not to let that massive price put them off because he’s worth it:

If a club has a clear project and they want to focus on me, they can’t be frightened in front of this figure

10.45am: Spurs player, Andros Townsend is having a medical at QPR. I’m not sure what the appropriate level of excitement should be for that news nugget.

10.41am: Fulham are linked with another Serie A loan raid. Marteen Stekelenburg could come to the Cottage until the end of the season if rumours are to be believed. The Dutch keeper might be tempted into a move, possibly to avoid any more run-ins with Lucio’s boot:

10.30am: David Villa will not be going to Manchester City apparently. Lovers of finely groomed facial hair are in despair.

10.26am: FC Dallas winger, Brek Shea (22) is in Stoke to work out a deal. Tony Pulis is keen, but a work permit may be a problem. The Potters are going to make the case that he can ‘improve the English game’ which if it means less playing time for Jermaine Pennant, is probably a debate they can win.

10.21am: Roberto Martinez says some nice things and factually accurate things about Aiden McGeady, but it’s not talking like a man who expects to lure him from Russia in the next few hours.

Aiden is a phenomenal footballer, but is a footballer that is playing his football in Russia. I don’t think that is going to change. It’s not going to happen.

10.15am: Alan Smith (the older, less badge-kissing one) is the pundit in the Sky Sports News studio now. He seems to be under the impression Mark Hughes is still managing QPR.

10.10am: Awww! In slightly sad news for fans of the goalkeeping howler, Heurelho Gomes (31) is leaving Tottenham for Hoffenheim on loan. Although now he’s going to actually play, so maybe it’s good news for goalkeeping howlers.

10.07am: It’s another hasty car window interview. This time Stoke goalkeeper, Asmir Begovic (25) stops his Range Rover to confirm he’s going nowhere. He also says he’d welcome Jack Butland to the Potters, even if it would provide competition for him.

9.57am: Christopher Samba tweeted this:

Good morning to every hope u all ok,may u have a good day from London—
Samba Christopher (@cs4christsamba1) January 31, 2013

It’s not quite confirmation that he’s a QPR player, but it tells us it’s not far off. It also tells us he’ll need a new Twitter avatar in the near future.

9.55am: Alan Curbishley is back in the Sky Sports News studio and this time he’s moaning about how Transfer Deadline Day ruined his chances of taking Charlton to Champions League glory. That’s only a minimal exaggeration of what he actually said.

9.52am: After Dimitar Berbatov pulled up with a hamstring strain in last night’s game with West Ham, Fulham may lack a bit of firepower for the next few weeks. Interestingly, they’ve chosen to address that problem by making an inquiry into the chances of getting David N’Gog from Bolton.

9.49am: BREAKING NEWS! Oh Danny Graham, we don’t care enough to keep talking about you. The Swansea striker’s apparently ‘done deal’ surprise £5 million move to Middlesbrough is off, if it was ever actually on. Sunderland looks off the table, so maybe he’ll just have to be a Swan for a while longer.

9.47am: Sorry, we have no ‘complete bullshit’ image so I had to use the ‘shock move’ one. David Beckham to PSG is the rumour I’m dismissing out of had.

9.42am: Paul Robinson (33) is moving closer to amusing us all with his humourous attempts at goalkeeping in the Premier League. Big Sam thinks he’ll be an improvement on Jussi Jääskeläinen, but he also thought a moustache suited him for years, so maybe his judgement is a little awry.

9.37am: Peter Crouch has just turned up for training at Stoke driven by his father in law. There’s speculation that it means a deal with QPR is a long way off, but I think the most interesting part of it all is he gets a lift to training from Abbey Clancy’s dad. Wow – how the other half live.

9.32am: Paul Scharner (32) looks close to bringing his ‘popping up with a surprisingly high amount of goals’ back to the Premier League. Wigan are close to making the former Wigan man a current Wigan man thanks to a loan deal with Hamburg.

9.25am: Tottenham’s supply of of outlandish hairstyles could reach dangerously low levels if AVB has his way. With Tom Huddlestone looking likely to go to Fulham, Spurs could be prepared to offer Benoit Assou-Ekotto to Inter Milan in return for one Alvaro Pereira.

Who will we turn to for our crazy Tottenham hairstyles now? Hugo Lloris? Aaron Lennon? Scott Parker? Not bloody likely.

9.22am: Reports from Spain say Cristiano Ronaldo has stormed into Jose Mourinho’s office, demanded a transf … no wait. It’s another picture of a sunrise.

9.16am: Woohoo! It’s our first sighting of Harry Redknapp being interviewed from inside his car. It’s all very uncomfortable and uninformative. ‘Training is my priority today,’ he blatantly lies in a Lance Armstrong style.

9.13am: Quiet everyone, Jamie Redknapp is talking.

Here’s in the Sky Sports News studio and he starts off by telling us what ‘moving’ involves.

Sometimes you move north, sometimes you move south, sometimes you move from where you’re settled

Thanks Jamie. I was under the impression ‘moving’ was staying in the one place all my life until my body decomposes into a soggy mulch and gets eaten by cats.

9.10am: It’s been brought to my attention that portions of our target audience won’t get that reference to Supermarket Sweep. Well youth of the world, Supermarket Sweep was a late morning game show presented by Dale Winton. And a ‘Dale Winton’ is a perma-tanned staple of cheesy television show.

9.03am: Considering they’re linked with every player to have ever looked at a football, it’s no surprise to see QPR are favourites to be the Premier League club making the most signings on Transfer Deadline Day.

Southampton, Sunderland and Norwich are the likely also rans in this one horse race as Tony Fernandes embarks on his version of Supermarket Sweep.

8.57am: Alan Pardew is supposedly close to finalising a deal with Standard Liege to bring William Vainqueur to Le Nouveau Chateau Unis. Possibly purely because he’s French.

8.49am: Boro legend, Bernie Slaven welcomes Danny Graham with open arms:

Is this some kind of joke ? Middlesbrough agree a £5 million pound deal for Danny Graham—
Bernie Slaven (@bernieslaven) January 31, 2013

8.38am: Well, no-one was talking about it or expecting it, but Celtic midfielder, Victor Wanyama has confirmed he will not be joining Manchester United during this transfer window. Ok. While we’re at it, I can confirm I will not be joining girlband, The Saturdays. The Kenyan didn’t exactly commit his long term future to the Bhoys however, telling us:

my manager feels I should play until the end of the season for Celtic. Then, from that point, the doors can be open for a move

8.34am: Tom Ince to Liverpool/Reading promises to be one of the on again/off again stories of the day. At the moment, we’re in an OFF situation. Reds boss, Brendan Rodgers is clearly an admirer of the Blackpool winger who Liverpool let go, but the paperwork might be too tricky to get completed by 11pm tonight. Rodgers told the media:

We could still do the deal it but it looks like that one is a bit too complicated at this stage

8.26am: BREAKING NEWS. Tottenham have offered .. hang on … here’s a picture of a sunrise:

It does link to Transfer Deadline Day. QPR are reportedly interested in signing the zebra on the left to boost their midfield options.

8.19am: It looks like Danny Graham will be leaving Swansea, but not for Sunderland as had been expected until he got booed at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday. For some reason, Middlesbrough are now his likely destination.

8.15am: Reports in the papers suggest that Christopher Samba will be paid £100,000 a week to join QPR. On Twitter, @2ndYellow sums it up concisely:

Today is probably the day QPR take a giant leap towards administration. #harry—
2nd Yellow (@2ndYellow) January 31, 2013

8.05am: One move that we haven’t heard much about is the possibility of Alvaro Negredo moving from Sevilla to Everton. That would be a shock, but possibly also a brilliant bit of business and the guy standing outside the Toffees’ training ground seems pretty confident it’s going top happen.

8.03am: The Sky Sports News reporter at QPR rattles off a whole host of names the Rs are reportedly interested in bringing in. It’s too long to list off, but just imagine any player who has ever played football and you won’t be far off.

7.55am: In more Tottenham tittle-tattle, Brazilian striker, Leandro Damiao had been AVB’s chief transfer target during January, but French sports newspaper, L’Equipe are reporting that they’ve also approached Lyon with a view to nabbing Lisandro Lopez. Is he an alternative or an accompaniment?

Here’s a glimpse of what Damiao can do from the recent Ronaldo XI v Zidane XI charity match:

Yes, it’s a fancy trick, but it also doesn’t fool the defender. And Damiao just ends up falling over and giving the ball away. Do Spurs really need that when they’ve already got Aaron Lennon?

7.43am: Tom Huddlestone and his magnificent hair are linked with a move to Fulham. To say Andre Villas-Boas is sending out some mixed signals about it is putting it mildly.

We’ve allowed the club to speak to the player.

The mini-Special One revealed, before expressing his admiration for him in an attempt to drive up the price.

He’s a player we rate very highly.

7.41am: ‘WE CUT AWAY WITH IMPORTANT BREAKING NEWS – here’s some shots of the sunrise over London on Transfer Deadline Day.

No word of a lie, that actually just happened on Sky Sports News. Wasn’t even a good sunrise.

7.34am: Someone had to draw the short straw and stand outside the Britannia Stadium for the day. The news from Stoke is – I would advise you to get a firm grip of your hats for this one – Tony Pulis has turned up for work! At 7.30! Wow.

I don’t know why the Sky Sports News guy is so shocked. He needs to get in early. Planning who your players are going to kick and how hard they’re going to kick takes a lot of planning.

7.25am: If David Bentley makes a move today, it’ll be the third time he has switched clubs during the January transfer window. Here he is in a possibly doctored video of him kicking a ball into a skip from the top of a building filmed at the Red Bull headquarters.

Yes it might be faked, but the heart palpitations you get from drinking too many energy drinks is very real.

7.10am: Some poor unfortunate Sky Sports journalist is standing outside Manchester City’s training complex in total darkness, looking more like a burglar than a glamourous media type. It’s not really worth the hassle because all he says is that Manchester City have never NOT signed a player during the January transfer window.

So that’s what it’s come to – now we’re starting rumours that there might be a rumour later on today.

6.39am: At some point in the last few weeks, the members of the Sky Sports News production team got together and asked ‘who can we get in for Transfer Deadline Day that’s relevant, insightful and charismatic in front of camera?’ Oh how they laughed when someone jokingly said ‘Alan Curbishley’, but now the laughter as stopped and he’s sitting in the studio holding court on the days’ potential moves for some reason.

6.30am: Aston Villa are this morning tying up a deal for French U21 and Clermont defensive midfielder, Yacouba Sylla. That’s all their problems solved in one go then.

6.21am: AC Milan’s Urby Emanuelson is going to the place all players who haven’t quite lived up to their hype end up – Fulham. Martin Jol has used his Dutchness to secure a deal to take the winger to Craven Cottage on loan until the end of the season.

6.04am: Taking time out of her busy tipping up favourites who don’t win, Sky Sports News horse racing expert, Alex Hammond is in studio now. One of her first jobs is to tell us QPR are after David Bentley. Like following one of her tips, when will people learn?

6.02am: Could he do it on a wet Wednesday at Stoke? Jack Butland might have to because after saying no to Chelsea due to concerns about the amount of bench-warming he’d have to do, the Potters have made a move to sign the Birmingham keeper.

If we were to speculate wildly – and it’s Transfer Deadline Day so why not – does it mean they’re hastily lining up a replacement for the highly rated Asmir Begovic??? (extra question marks make it more mysterious)

5.55am: Lennon’s comments look to have some merit because already the Canaries are looking elsewhere. Norwich are reportedly close to landing Lucciano Becchio from Leeds as if that some sort of compensation.

5.45am: With not much time to go, you have thought lots of clubs were working through the night on potential moves. It looks like everyone was a bit sleepy and went to bed pretty early because not much has happened end since last evening.

One move that looks unlikely is Gary Hooper to Norwich. After watching his side go 40 points clear at the top of the SPL, Neil Lennon says the striker is likely to stay at Parkhead. The Hoops boss covered all the bases by admitting:

Never say never but we had a third bid yesterday from Norwich and that was rejected.

HE’S ALL ZLAT – Ibrahimovich missed a sitter against Ajaccio, but he still thinks he’s great

We got treated to another hugely eventual weekend of football across the continent. As ever, we tried to make our fortune with an ambitious accum so we could tell our boss where he could stick his job, but the fact I’m writing this piece should tell you how that went. Here’s a look at some of the shortest price favourites who failed to do the business and may deserve the bulk of your ire.

Paris St. Germain

Odds: 1/7
Opposition: Ajaccio at the Parc des Princes (Ligue 1)

What went wrong?

Despite having line-up worth roughly the same as the entire island of Corsica, PSG couldn’t get the goal to send their island visitors home with anything less than a couple of Toblerones picked up in duty-free. With the highly rated Mexican goalkeeper, Guillermo Ochoa and an Adrian Mutu who needs to keep playing professionally until he’s about 320 years old to repay what he owes Chelsea, Ajaccio aren’t hopeless relegation fodder, but they aren’t a million miles from those levels either.

PSG were expected to win and win handsomely, but with 25 attempts on goal and only four of them on target, Carlo Ancelotti’s side showed all the accuracy of a Wikipedia biography. They bossed affairs, but couldn’t get the goal. Bad finishing was the main culprit of the weekend’s biggest choke, but the cause wasn’t helped by Thiago Motta who got sent off just before half time for trying to relief one of the Ajaccio players of his ankle. It finished 0-0, making it the biggest farce in the French capital since the Griswald’s stopped by on their European Vacation.

Dunfermline

Odds: 2/7
Opposition: Airdrie at East End Park (Scottish First Division)

What went wrong?

The Scottish lower leagues are often a fertile hunting ground for people looking to beef up their accums with some sort priced bankers. Top of the table Dunfermline’s hosting of relegation scrappers, Airdrie had all the hallmarks of a straightforward short-priced win, but the Pars put in a performance that made spending a cold January afternoon in Dunfermline even worse than it already is.

The league leaders went behind after four minutes, managed to equalise before conceding two second half goals. Charlie Adam’s goalkeeping and presumably less rotund brother, Grant Adam was one of Airdrie’s heroes thanks to some crucial saves, but the two goals from Ryan Donnelly also helped. As measure of how disappointing the Pars were came from their goalscorer, Ryan Wallace who failed to insult a referee or opponent when he admitted:

Airdrie were excellent. All over the park they were winning first and second balls. Full credit to them, they came here, worked hard and deserved all the points.

Such a disappointingly level-headed and mature view isn’t what you expect from a Scot after a defeat, heaping more misery upon anyone who backed the Pars.

Real Madrid

Odds: 1/2
Opposition: Osasuna at Estadio El Sadar (La Liga)

What went wrong?

The Special One’s seemingly long and fractious goodbye from Real Madrid continued apace on Saturday night as the defending champions were held to a draw which about 24 hours later allowed Barcelona to extend their lead to 18 points over their hated rivals. Jose will no doubt point to the fact he was without Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos and Antonio ‘totally my actual first choice keeper and not just a stop-gap while I teach Iker Casillas a lesson for not liking me’ Adan due to suspension, but still Real were expected to record a win over a team who look so destined for the second tier they should call Neil Warnock now.

Real can’t even point to bad luck or the Osasuna goal leading a charmed life for their convenient excuse because the stats say La Liga’s basement club had more shots, more of which were on target, more corners and the same amount of possession as the Madrid giants. Kaka got sent off 18 minutes after coming on as a substitute, but as it’s no longer 2006, that doesn’t matter as much as it used to. Another terrible night for Real and a worse one for anyone who threw them into their bankers accum.

Hull

Odds: 8/13
Opposition: Sheffield Wednesday at the KC Stadium (Championship)

What went wrong?

Steve Bruce is currently enjoying the latest of those spells in his career when he gets loads of ill-advised praise thrown away and looks like a managerial genius who can do no wrong. You know, it’s that twelve to eighteen month period of time that comes just before things turn to crap and he gets found out as the adequate but unexceptional gaffer he is. To his credit, he has Hull challenging for automatic promotion and the Tigers were odds-on favourites to dispose of struggling Sheffield Wednesday at home.

The Owls took the lead early on, but Hull equalised late on thanks to Robert Koren. Then Tigers’ goalkeeper, Eldin Jakupovic took centre stage – not in the good way. He butter-fingered a cross into his own goal and also got clattered in the process, meaning he needed to be stretchered off in a neck brace. Despite only being on the pitch for about 10 minutes, substitute keeper, Mark Oxley couldn’t keep a mini-clean sheet (clean napkin?) and a Michail Antonio goal made it 3-1 to the visitors. Bad news if you backed them and even worse news if you’ve had your ego inflated recently with some undue praise.

Tottenham

Odds: 4/5
Opposition: QPR at Loftus Road (Premier League)

What went wrong?

Ok, I’ll admit it. I didn’t watch this one. I was doing my weekly shop in Aldi (I bought a cake stand for some reason), but I kept up to speed with on the car radio. The guy on the radio basically said ‘Tottenham haven’t broke the deadlock, but they do have three substitutions remaining’ as if that was some reassuring sign that their superiority would shine through.

That superiority did shine through, although in the form of some flattering statistics rather than the three points. If it was a boxing match, the visitors would have been awarded the win, but then again, if it was a boxing match, Spurs would have been thumping the air adjacent to their opponent rather than their opponent. They went close a number of times but found out that Julio Cesar is no Rob Green. The Brazilian pulled off some fine saves to earn the R’s a point and give Harry Redknapp a faint feeling of revenge over his former employers.

IT’S ALL GOODWILLIE: Big Dave can lead Blackburn to glory tonight (Pic: Getty)

By Andrew Robinson

Wolves v Blackburn, 7.45pm, Sky Sports 1

Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers are two clubs in turmoil, and the pair meet on Friday in a crucial Championship clash, which could go some way to decide the way the rest of their season go.

It’s certainly not a good year to be a Norwegian manager in the Championship, as Blackburn gave Henning Berg the boot after just ten games and Stale Solbakken was given his marching orders last weekend.

The circus that is Venky’s looks determined to ruin the Lancashire club and there has been nothing but upheaval and turmoil since the Indian owners took over.

Sam Allardyce’s sacking was followed by fan protests against Steve Kean and a bizarre chicken advert using the players.

The chaos led to the relegation of the club from the top flight and the departure of some top names. The latest bizarre chapter came when Kean was sacked with the team in the promotion spots. His replacement lasted just ten games and Shebby Singh has become a laughing stock for the way he is going about getting in a new man.

Michael Appleton, who is getting a reputation for being the go-to man in a crisis, after his stint at Portsmouth, is the latest man to be lined up for the job, but Blackpool have laughed off Blackburn’s approach.

Despite the off-field issues, Gary Bowyer, along with a sprinkling of advice from Danny Murphy, has got his side playing well. Three wins in a row, with eight goals for and just one against, is promotion form.

Bowyer is crediting Murphy with a major contribution to the turnaround, ‘He’s a great influence on the pitch, he’s got a good opinion on football and he’s shared that with myself and Terry. We’ve taken it on board because he’s been there, seen it and done it’.

Could this be Blackburn’s year? Paddy Power have them at 7/1 to be pulling on their boots in the top league next season.

All really depends on who the owners bring in. Will it be a Bollywood star? Ronaldinho? Or Sven-Goran Eriksson? He loves a ‘challenge’, or maybe it’s just the money that comes with a sacking.

While the job at Ewood Park seems to be a poisoned chalice, the one at Molineux was snapped up by former Doncaster Rovers boss Dean Saunders.

The Welshman takes charge of his first game on Friday since the sacking of Solbakken and he’s got quite a job to do. Wolves are in 18^th in the Championship, just six points off the drop zone.

Confidence is shot as well. They were beaten by Conference Premier side Luton in the FA Cup last weekend – not the best run for a side tipped to take the league by storm!

The last two home games against Peterborough and Ipswich, two sides scrapping it out at the bottom with them, ended in 3-0 and 2-0 losses respectively, pretty humiliating as former Wolves boss Mick McCarthy is in charge of the Tractor Boys.

They are now just 14/1 to make it back-to-back relegations. The fans must be wishing Big Mick was still prowling the touchline.

Maybe the Norwegian had lost the dressing room and Saunders will get them up for the game on Friday. They are 7/5 to pick up a much-needed home win and give their long-suffering fans something to shout about.

Blackburn are on offer at 15/8 to continue their current run and with a finisher like Jordan Rhodes in the side anything can happen. He’s 9/2 to open the scoring on Friday.

With so much riding on the game, it could be a tight affair. The last meeting ended in a 1-0 Wolves win. Paddy Power is offering a juicy 11/4 on the game having 0 or 1 goal, a good shout considering how nervous both sides will be.

• Betting: Blackburn v Wolves
  
• Betting: Championship promotion
• Betting: Championship relegation

ON THE D MOVE: Fernando Llorente is out of favour in Spain (pic: Getty Images)

By Andrew Robinson

Premier League sides are looking to do some wheeling and dealing in the January transfer and whether it’s for a push for the European spots – or trying to escape the trap door – they’ll be looking for some good bargains.

We’ve hit the sales before them to have a look at what’s out there.

Mohammed Diame

The former Wigan man has impressed at West Ham since his summer move. You might think his performances against Arsenal and Chelsea and his Premier League experience would have pushed his value through the roof? Wrong.

His agent has managed to work some magic and the Senegalese midfielder has a £3.5 million release clause in his contract and that’s a pittance, especially for a player of his quality.

Arsene Wenger is keen on adding Diame’s strength to his flimsy side but it wouldn’t be a January transfer window without Harry Redknapp  sniffing around and he’s interested in activating  the release clause and bringing Diame to QPR.

Theo Walcott

The Arsenal man has been the subject of a lot of speculation in recent months and could be available in the January sales in 2013. His contract negotiations at the Emirates are progressing slowly and some sources believe they have broken down completely.

Walcott wants a guaranteed starting spot upfront, but Wenger won’t agree. The Gunners boss doesn’t want to be left letting him go on a free like Robin van Persie or Samir Nasri, where he needs to sell to avoid Walcott leaving for free.

The former Southampton man might be available for a cut price deal in January and Manchester United and Juventus are both on red alert to add something extra to their respective title pushes.

He’s even been left out of Arsenal’s 2013 calendar , so it looks like a move is on the cards.

Fernando Llorente

The Spanish striker has gone from hero to zero with Athletic Bilbao. He was a major part in the side’s Europa League campaign last season, but has fallen out of favour in recent months and confirmed he’ll leave for free in June.

To avoid losing out on the striker, Bilbao may be forced to sell him for a cut price. Around £4.5 million could bring Llorente to the Premier League and he’s keen on a move to England.

Rumours suggest Llorente, who has “good feet for a big man”, has already agreed a deal with Juventus, but Manchester City, Tottenham and Arsenal are thought to be tracking him.

Ashley Cole

Rafa Benitez has hinted that England international Cole could be moving on  and PSG even hinted that a deal had been agreed for the summer via a tweet. It was later deleted, but Chelsea might be looking to offload him in January.

The 31-year-old is no spring chicken and his years bombing up and down the wing have taken their toll – but he could still do a job in the Premier League and he might be on the cheap next month.

Billy McKay

Some of the top Championship sides chasing Inverness Caledonian Thistle striker Billy McKay. He’s been on fire recently and has bagged 18 goals for Terry Butcher’s side.

Leicester, newly cash-rich Leeds United and Alex McLeish’s Nottingham Forest are chasing him and could try to test Inverness’ resolve to keep hold of one of the most in-form strikers in British football.

Despite his form, he could be available for a bargain price, particularly if he manages to help get a Championship side to the promise land of the Premier League.

• Betting: Relegation battle
• Betting: nPower Championship promotion

LUIS-ING FAITH? – Despite lots of possession, Liverpool and Suarez lacked attacking threat

By Aidan Elder | Chief sports writer

Congratulations if you landed a winning accumulator from the weekend’s football. It wasn’t the easiest as some of the very short priced favourites turned out to be about as reliable as a candy-floss crash helmet. Here’s the teams to direct your lingering resentment towards for at least the next couple of days:

Liverpool

Odds: 2/5
Opposition: Aston Villa at Anfield (Premier League)

What went wrong?
It was that familiar feeling for Liverpool under Brendan Rodgers. It’s not especially accurate to say they wasted chances. They wasted the chance to waste chances. Too often it was the pass preceding the killer through ball that went awry and what was shaping up to be a promising move turned out to be more disappointing than any series of Lost that wasn’t the first.

The Reds dominated possession and kept Brad Guzan’s buttery-fingers warm, but they were sucker-punched by a Villa team that played economically and took their chances brilliantly. If Barca had scored that second goal, Gary Neville would have instantly scorgasmed and combusted into a nebula of ecstasy and drifted off into a distant corner of the universe. It wasn’t as bad a performance as the scoreline suggests. There were some positives for Liverpool. ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ as they say while clutching at straws. It’s true – but Rome also wasn’t conquered by an average Aston Villa team.

Not everyone lost out on the game, in particular one punter who nailed it with a 450/1 Scorecast.

Real Madrid

Odds: 1/9
Opposition: Espanyol at the Bernabau (La Liga)

What went wrong?
Complacency, internal unhappiness, the Special One’s coat lacking it’s power of old. You could blame several factors on Real’s latest stumble in the defence of their La Liga title but essentially they’re all synonyms for ‘ego‘. Against an Espanyol team with just two wins from 17 games in all competitions, los Blancos expected to win and started with all the energy of a team banking on an evening’s cake-walking. At odds of 1/9, they were statistically the biggest chokers in this weekend’s major leagues.

They went behind to a lovely finished from the legs and torso attached to the wonderful hair of Sergio Garcia. With the referee about to send the teams in for their half-time bollocking, Ronaldo got his studs on a cross to equalise. Within two minutes of the second half, Real went in front thanks to a goal from Fabio Coentrao that surprised everyone, mainly because it featured Ronaldo passing to a team-mate when within sight of goal. The hosts wasted loads of chances to put the game to bed, but in the 88th minute some defending so indecisive it would make Titus Bramble blush. Catalonia’s less fashionable side claimed a point at the Bernabau that leaves the defending champs 13 points behind Barca and Jose sweating more than he’s used to in his warm yet fashionable jacket.

Cardiff

Odds: 1/3
Opposition: Peterborough at Cardiff City Stadium (The Championship)

What went wrong?
The prospect of ‘red-hot’ top taking on ‘aristocratic mother cold’ bottom wasn’t enough to have you thinking Cardiff were nailed on to beat Peterborough, the Welsh side’s impressive home record may have convinced you. Heading into to Saturday’s game, the distinctly scarlet-coloured Bluebirds had won all ten of their home games this season and against a team that had taken one point from a possible 24 since the start of November, it looked like a no-brainer.

The feeling it wasn’t going to be Cardiff’s day start early on. Heidar Helguson thought he’d put the hosts in front, but the linesman pooped the party by ruling it out for offside. The feeling of injustice was compounded about 20 minutes later. The referee awarded Peterborough one of those ‘roll a six to start’ free-kicks that looked like it could have gone either way. It went the Posh’s way and Michael Bostwick smashed his shot in from the edge of the Cardiff box. Dwight Gayle scored early in the second half to make it 2-0, but with the hosts creating plenty of chances, it wasn’t a massive concern. Cardiff’s finishing was a concern however and despite racking up 17 attempts on goal, they could only muster a late Rudy Gestede goal which turned out to be mere consolation. That’s misleading however as it wasn’t consolation to anyone who had backed the Bluebirds.

Napoli

Odds: 2/5
Opposition: Bologna at Stadio San Paulo (Serie A)

HAM-PERING THE PUNTERS – Marek Hamsik – presumably out of shot to the left is the hairdresser who gave him that haircut.

At the start of the weekend, Napoli were Juventus’s closest challengers at the top of the table. They were five points and a chunk of goal difference off actually getting that top spot, but there was hope the Partenopei might be able to claim their first Scuddetto since Diego Maradona was snorting his way around the city back in the late 80s and early 90s. After a shock defeat to relegation scrapers, Bologna, those hopes look more foolish than Marek Hamsik’s Blink 182 look.

The hosts and heavy favourites went behind after 10 minutes, but they rallied to be 2-1 ahead with about five minutes to play. Then came too late goals from the visitors which left the Neapolitan crowd more deflated than someone on a cocaine comedown. Napoli did waste a lot of chances, but they were also let off the hook a bit. Morgan De Sanctis made his fair share of saves and some Mr. Magoo-ing from the linesman denied Alberto Gilardino a perfectly fine goal thanks to an erroneous offside flag. Napoli fans may rue bad luck for defeat, but Napoli backers will mainly rue the decision to side with the frequently flaky southerners.

Chelsea

Odds: 4/6
Opposition: Corinthians at the International Stadium, Yokohama (Club World Cup)

There’s a special mention this week for Chelsea. They probably weren’t on a lot of coupons because it’s easy to forget about the whatever it’s called competition. The Blues were impressive in dismantling Monterrey on Thursday, but against the Copa Libertadores winners, Corinthians in the final, they performed with all the urgency of a manager who knows he’ll get millions in compensation even if he fails. Hopefully you didn’t wake up early enough to back Chelsea.

BELL’ OF THE BALL: Malky congratulates Craig in the win over Blackburn  (pic: Getty Images)

By Andrew Robinson | nPower Championship

The term always the bridesmaid never the bride seems to have been created with Cardiff City in mind. The Bluebirds have been in the Championship since 2003, have  moved to a new stadium and being taken over by new owners.

Despite all the controversy they have constantly been in the mix for promotion, but missed out in the lottery of the play-offs in the last three seasons. In 2010, Ian Holloway’s Blackpool won the £60 million game at Wembley and in the two seasons since they have fallen at the semi-final stages.

This season they will be hoping to avoid the drama of the playoffs and secure automatic promotion to the Premier League.

Malky Mackay’s men are sitting at the top of one of the most competitive leagues in the world. This is mostly down to the fact that their home form has been impeccable, winning 10 out of 10 so far this season.

They have struggled away from home though, losing to Barnsley, Charlton and Bolton in recent weeks, which means they only have a three-point lead in the table.

Luckily this weekend they return to Wales and welcome the Championship’s bottom side Peterborough, who have been struggling to find the form they enjoyed during Darren Ferguson’s last spell at the club.

Recent results indicate problems at both ends at the field, conceding 14 goals in their last five games and scoring just five. Cardiff have also been involved in their fair share of thrillers, which included a 5-4 loss away at Charlton and both teams to score this weekend at 4/6 looks a fair shout with Paddy Power.

Ferguson is under pressure and he recently got the dreaded vote of confidence from chairman Darren MacAnthony.

He’ll definitely get support in January. I’ll always back him. We’ve got four weeks until the transfer window opens. We’ve got to get through a really tough Christmas period and pick up results with the squad we’ve got. If we need more firepower we’ll bring in one or two.

Cardiff’s home form makes them look like bankers in this tie and they are 1/3 to deliver while Posh are trading at 8/1 for a shock win with Paddy Power

• Bettting: Cardiff v Peterborough

Football

Chelsea are odds on to lift their first trophy of the season by beating Brazilian side Corinthians on Sunday in the Club World Cup final.

Juan Mata, Fernando Torres and a Darvin Chavez o.g. in the second half were enough to leave  Rafa Benitez on the verge on winning his first trophy for the club.

The London side have also apparently expressed an interest in signing want-away Theo Walcott from Arsenal as fan favourite Frank Lampard (34) has revealed he is not in contract talks to stay on at the club after his current deal runs out next year.

• Betting: Chelsea v SP Corinthians 

The Blues’ Premier League game is postponed this weekend but Gareth Barry will miss Manchester City’s crucial away game against Newcastle in the early kick-off on Saturday. The FA have banned him for ‘abusive and insulting words’ at a match official after last weekend’s Manchester Derby loss to United.

Roberto Mancini’s side need to beat the Magpies away or risk being nine points behind leaders United – who face Sunderland at Old Trafford – by close of business on Saturday night.

If your winning 1st Goalscorer scores again in the Newcastle v Man City, Tottenham v Swansea or West Brom v West Ham match we’ll DOUBLE your odds

• Betting: Premier League coupon 

Darts

Between the presents, the food, the mulled wine and the decorations, it’s hard to imagine Christmas being any better. Well it could be…throw in two podgy men, half a dozen skimpily-clad dancers, some mind-blowing pyrotechnics and plenty of lads in fancy dress drinking their own body weight in booze.

December just wouldn’t be the same without the PDC World Championships. Paddy loves the season of goodwill and he’s going to be refunding your bets if the final checkout in a match is 100+.

After 66 per cent of the players banged in monster checkouts in last year’s competition you can expect a few cheeky festive payouts this Christmas.

• Betting: Darts Coupon 

Racing

There’s racing today from Cheltenham as the two-day December meeting gets underway live on Ch4. Course specialist Midnight Chase has won five times in nine runs at the track – including two decent performances in the Gold Cup – heads the weights for the Handicap Chase at 1.55.

Neil Mulholland’s runner won this contest two years ago and concedes weight to Bradley who was second here last month to Monbeg Dude over 3m 3f and Paddy Power will refund your losing single win stake if your selection finishes second to Bradley in the 1.55. 

The day’s other meetings are at Bangor, Lingfield, Wolverhampton and Dundalk.

Jockey Daryl Jacob won’t have to worry about an extra mince pie on Christmas Day as his appeal against a 10-day ban failed yesterday.  Paul Nicholls’ number two will now miss the ride on Kauto Stone in the King George VI Chase on December 26th and will be forced to sit out the Welsh Grand National a day later. 

• Betting: All Friday’s cards, form and odds

Cricket

England have made a big breakthrough this morning in Nagpur where James Anderson bowled Virender Sehwag with the third ball as the tourists recovered from 139 for 5 to finish all out 330 yesterday.

England are 2-1 ahead in the series and only need to draw to win their first series in India since 1984/85.

• Betting: India v England in running

JER’ WORST NIGHTMARE – Jeremie Aliadiere is back and he’s here to ruin your weekend (pic: Inpho)

It was a pretty good week for accumulators with a lot of the big boys obliging despite having some potentially tricky banana skins to avoid. Still though, sometimes our eyes can be a bit bigger than our natural betting conservatism and here’s some of the odds-on chances that may have brought your accum down and why it happened.

Borussia Dortmund

Odds: 1/4
Opposition: Wolfsburg at the Westfalenstadion (Bundesliga)

What went wrong?
Having topped a Champions League group that featured Real Madrid, Manchester City and Ajax, Borussia Dortmund were very much the fashionable underdog footballing hipsters like to chat knowledga. The Black Yellows are going for third Bundesliga title in a row, but that campaign is progressing as smoothly as a prank phone call from an Australian radio station.

At home to a team hovering about the relegation zone, it was expected to a regulation flogging of a whipping, but went badly awry 35 minutes in. With Dortmund leading 1-0 and dominating, defender Marcel Schmelzer handled the ball on his own goal-line, earning a red card and handing Wolfsburg a penalty which Diego tucked away for the equaliser. The Wolves went ahead five minutes later, but Dortmund got a penalty of their own to make it 2-2 with half an hour to play. Just when it looked like the 10 men might snatch an unlikely win, the brilliantly named Bas Dost stepped up to score the visitors’ winner and sending people who blindly include odds-on European giants in their weekend accum into despair and less importantly, ruining Dortmund’s title challenge.

Leicester

Odds: 4/11
Opposition: Barnsley at the Walkers Stadium (Championship)

What went wrong?
Amazingly for a defence that contains Paul Konchesky, Leicester boast the best defensive record in the Championship. And on Saturday, they were facing the league’s most goal shy team. With nearly half the season gone, the Foxes have established themselves as promotion candidates, whilst Barnsley face a long, grumpy battle against relegation that gives them the perfect excuse to moan and generally be very Yorkshire. It looked like a banker and the fact you’re reading about it here somewhat gives away the ending.

All looked to be progressing smoothly as Anthony Knockaert put the hosts in front before the clock had ticked past the 10 minute mark. They went into half time 2-1 down however as the Tykes rallied with goals from Stephen Dawson and Reuben Noble-Lazarus. Jamie Vardy equalised in the 90th minute and despite six and half minutes of injury-time, the Foxes couldn’t snatch the winner that their 17 shots on target (versus 3 for Barnsley) probably deserved. “For 90% of the second half we were camped in their half but they made the route to goal very blocked,” explained manager Nigel Pearson afterwards, seemingly obvious to the ‘park the bus tactics often employed by relegation strugglers who’ve managed to take a lead.

Marseille

Odds: 4/7
Opposition: Lorient at the Stade Velodrome (Ligue 1)

What went wrong?
With its steep terraces packed with angry, shouty Mediterranean types, the Stade Velodrome is considered one of the most hostile venues in European football. On Sunday however, Lorient found it about as threatening as a dirty look from Jahmene Douglas.

With Marseille well and truly in the hunt for the Ligue 1 title, they were expected to make short work of the Breton mid-tablers, but after having a player sent off and going behind to the resulting penalty (converted by former Arsenal and Middlesbrough flatterer to deceiver, Jeremie Aliadiere), OM had no answer. Despite the best efforts of Joey Barton trying to inspire his team-mates using a comedy French accent, the short-handed hosts couldn’t muster a comeback and eventually slumped to a 3-0 defeat that was more disappointing than a much heralded Ligue 1 goalscorer arriving in the Premier League.

Crawley Town

Odds: 8/11
Opposition: Shrewsbury at Broadfield Stadium (League 1)

What went wrong?
Purely in terms of odds, Crawley weren’t the most disappointing favourites of the weekend, but considering they’re about as popular as an Osama bin Laden costume at a fourth of July barbeque, they may have been the most celebrated failures. Unless of course you had them in your accum.

The League 1 moneybags have stumbled through the last few weeks, but at home to relegation battlers, Shrewsbury there was more than enough evidence to think they could return to winning ways in the league. After about 40 seconds that confidence looked well-founded thanks to a Josh Simpson goal for the Reds, but by half-time, they had contrived to fall behind thanks to goals from Matthew Richards and Jon Taylor. Simpson got his second of the game 10 minutes from the end to earn the hosts a point, but it wasn’t much use to anyone who had it in their accum. ‘Money can’t buy you a guaranteed home banker’ as Lennon and McCartney almost wrote.

BRAVEHEART IN DISGUISE? Freedman will try to rally Bolton in the push for promotion. Pic: Getty

By Lee Dover

How are last season’s relegated Premier League teams faring now?

As we enter the midway point of the 2012/13 football season, passionate fans of Blackburn, Bolton and Wolves will surely be nodding their heads in agreement at the above statement.

It was only a few months ago that the trio of clubs were enjoying the life of Riley as they travelled to the likes of Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge and the Emirates to play their part in the Premier League pecking order.

Now though, all three teams have been plucked from their heavenly haven and forced to battle for their lives against the likes of Peterborough United, Barnsley and Charlton Athletic.

So can any of last season’s relegated Premier League clubs bounce right back and return to their comfortable refuge in the top flight?

Blackburn

Fans of former Lancashire football giants Blackburn Rovers finally got their wish when Steve Kean declared he had heard enough abuse and was taking the first bus out of Ewood Park.

However, what appears to have been a Christmas present delivered early at first has quickly turned into an unloved piece of coal.

Since the beginning of November, Blackburn have had to swallow humbling defeats against Millwall and strong promotion candidates Crystal Palace, while being held by Huddersfield Town and Birmingham City.

Only a 4-1 thrashing away to Peterborough has given supporters something to cheer about, but star striker Leon Best knows by experience that fan support could be the critical factor that either makes or breaks the club’s hopes this season.

“I understand why some fans get upset and want to show their anger. Everyone just wants us to go up; we all want the same thing,” Best declared to the Lancashire Telegraph.

“The season I went up with Newcastle, when we played at home the fans were the 12th man. Sometimes that is what you need. We have been up and down. I have very high expectations of the team and I expect the highest.”

While the odds of 11/1 for Blackburn to win the Championship this season seem a bit too optimistic – Best was talking about hope not a miracle – the 11/4 price with Paddy Power for the Lancashire club to earn promotion sounds a very decent bet.

Bolton

Bolton Wanderers were only a point away from enjoying yet another season in the Premier League back in May, but just a few months later they find themselves sitting in 18th position in the Championship after 18 games.

The situation was starting to look so bleak for the club a couple of weeks ago that they may have been planning more for another relegation scrap than a promotion push.

Well, that was until Bolton boss Dougie Freedman suddenly grabbed the bull by the horns and started to steer his club towards much smoother waters.

One huge victory against Cardiff City and four back-to-back draws and the north-west club are once again beginning to show that spark that made them such loveable underdogs in the top flight.

Looking forward, Freedman has roared: “We have a good group who want to do well for each other and the club. We will stick together and keep on going. Sure, there will be a few knocks along the way, ups and downs, but I am here to make them play better. We know what we want to achieve.”

We haven’t heard a more rousing speech as that since Braveheart hit cinema screens in the 90s. It could well be enough to convince fans to have a punt of the 7/1 for Bolton to clinch promotion – even if it is by the skin of their teeth.

Wolves

It’s very hard to assess the situation at Wolves at the moment. They left the Premier League without as much as a whimper and then had a fine start to their first season back in the Championship to put them as top contenders to bounce straight back into the top flight.

But then the wheels came out from under them and fans have watched as the team failed to pick up a win for eight agonising games. Most disappointing will be their draws at home against the likes of Charlton Athletic and Brighton and Hove Albion.

So now punters are left in the precarious situation where they can either opt towards the slump continuing and Wolves being relegated for the second consecutive season – the odds are huge at 25/1 on this scenario occurring – or the club shaking off their woes and clinching an unlikely promotion straight back to the Premier League. Paddy Power has a price of 11/1 available on that particular case of events.

• Betting: Championship outright
• Betting: Championship promotion
• Betting: Championship relegation

YOU’RE CRUCIFYING ME HERE: Mowbray frustrated with officials in win over Sunderland  (Getty Images)

By Lee Dover

Middlesbrough take on Sheffield Wednesday in Friday night’s live nPower Championship game at 7.45pm.

Boro are on an impressive eight-game unbeaten run in all competitions and will be top of the table – until Crystal Palace play Derby tomorrow – should they overcome the Owls who are looking for back-to-back away wins after beating Ipswich at the end of October.

Tony Mowbray’s side have seen off  Hull City and Bolton Wanderers as well as great derby rivals Sunderland in the Capital One Cup in recent games but were held 0-0 by Nottingham Forest mid-week.

First-team coach Mark Proctor was deputising for Mowbray who was in bed with the flu and said afterwards:

We were playing against a very good Forest team who have some good players. We always knew it would be a tough game for us. All in all there were opportunities at either end and a draw was probably the right result.

Sheffield Wednesday are on 15 points – 14 points behind Boro and hovering over the Championship drop zone after a disastrous September.

It started brightly for The Owls, when they drew with Derby County and won against Birmingham City and Millwall in their opening three games but they then lost six on the bounce in all competitions.

Owls manager Dave Jones is staying upbeat even though his team lost 2-0 at home to Blackpool on Tuesday despite having plenty of chances in front of goal.

The encouraging thing for us is that against a very good side we have been in it for long periods.

But Wednesday will need to be more than ‘in it’this evening against a Middlesbrough side that have won their last three head-to-head clashes against them.

• Betting: Middlesbrough v Sheffield Wednesday 
• Betting: Championship coupon